Etna Rosso “Feudo di Mezzo”
This single-vineyard wine, from a plot just below Graci’s cantina, is bolder than their entry-level Rosso.
Appellation: Etna Rosso DOC
Type: Red, dry
Blend: 95% Nerello Mascalese 5% Nerello Cappuccio – indigenous to the Etna area
Certified Organic
Color: Deep, clear red with hints of purple.
Bouquet: Dried cherries, sweet herbs and dried flowers.
Taste: Bold but still texturally ‘light’ with dark wild cherry, earth, tar and notes of Mediterranean herbs on a smoky berry, complex finish.
Food Pairings: Roast pork, grilled meats, baked stuffed sardines, tuna and tomato, barbecue short ribs, swordfish with tomatoes and capers, steak, sweet and sour pork, smoked eggplant, Thai style eggplant, pecorino, caciocavallo (sicilian mozzarella), provolone, fresh ricotta, and gruyere.
Production area: the Feudo Di Mezzo vineyard on the northeastern slopes of Etna at Passopisciaro, Castiglione di Sicilia, Province of Catania.
Altitude: 600-700 meters, (2,000-2,300 feet) a.s.l.
Vine density: 8,000 plants /ha (8,000 plants /2 ½ acres).
Soil: Dark brown in color, volcanic in origin, well-drained – almost sandy in some parts, neutral pH, not calcareous, mostly very rich in iron and nitrogen.
Yield: 35 hecto-liters /ha (1,000 gallons /2.5 acres).
Harvest: Mid- October.
Fermentation: Natural yeast, no control temperature classic red fermentation in vertical wooden ‘tini’ (conical in shape), with maceration on the skin for 30 days.
Maturation: 24-months in large wooden ‘tini’, made from Nevers oak by Austrian Cooper, Stockinger. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally.
Bottle Aging: At least 6 months before release
